Tawassul

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Meaning (definition) of al-Tawassul

Waseelah or Tawassul is nearness and the means by which one approaches and draws near to something.

In the Islamic context, Tawassul refers to the means by which once can achieve nearness with Allah.

Another meaning of al-Tawassul is a rank and standing with Allah, as is the Hadeeth. The Messenger of Allah said: “When you hear the caller to prayer then say the like of what he says, then send blessings upon me… Then ask Allah to grant me al-Waseelah because it is a station in Paradise, which is appropriate only for a single servant from the servants of Allah, and I hope that it will be me.”Saheeh Muslim vol.1, no.747.

The Meaning of Tawassul as explained in the Qur’aan

The definition of Tawassul, “it is the means by which one achieves nearness to Allah”, has its basis in the Qur’aan. “Those whom you call upon desire (for themselves) means of access (al-Waseelah) to their Lord (Allah), as to which of them should be nearest and they hope for His Mercy and fear His Torment. Verily, the Torment of your Lord is something to be afraid of!”Soorah al-Isra (17): 57.

Abdullah Ibn Mas’oud (Companion of Prophet Muhammad) said: “This verse was revealed concerning a group of Arabs, who worshiped a group of Jinn. The Jinn accepted Islam which was unknown to those people who worshiped them.”Saheeh al-Bukharee v.6, no.238 and Saheeh Muslim. Al-Hafidh Ibn Hajr said: “The people who used to worship the Jinn continued to worship the Jinn, and the Jinn were not pleased with their worship, since they had accepted Islam. And they were the ones who sought a means of nearness to their Lord…”Fath al-Baree 10/12 and 13.

Allah says in the Qur’aan: “O you who believe! Do your duty to Allah and fear Him. Seek the means of approach (al-Waseelah) to Him, and strive hard in His Cause as much as you can. So that you may be successful.”Soorah al-Maidah (5): 35.

Al-Hafidh Ibn Katheer reported Ibn Abbas saying in his commentary of this verse: “The meaning of al-Waseelah is to draw closer.” He also reports from Qatadah: “This is that you draw near to Him by obedience to Him and through actions that are pleasing to Him.” And Ibn Katheer (rahimahullah) said: “And with regard to what those Imams (Ibn Abbas and Qatadah) said there is no disagreement between the scholars of Tafseer about it… al-Waseelah is that by means of which one reaches that which he desires.”Tafseer Ibn Katheer.

These two verses and their authentic Tafseers (commentaries) clearly explain that Waseelah consists of seeking nearness to Allah by means of righteousness in order to get closer to Allah.

This refutes any other explanation of Waseelah like that of those who consider Waseelah to mean directly supplicating to the dead saints. It refutes the erroneous belief held by the Deobandis of seeking ‘Tawassul’ through the status and honor of the Prophets and saints.

This also refutes the incorrect Tafseer by the Deobandis that…

Moulana Aashiq Ilahi Meerathi mentions in Irshaadul-Mulook, “It is imperative for the Salik (one searching for the path) to have a Shaik-e-Kamil (spiritual guide) so that the Shaikh becomes the companion along this road, and explains the ups and downs and the pitfalls of this journey. Hence, Allah says: “O People of Eemaan! Adopt Taqwa (god fearing) and search for a Waseelah (means) towards Allah.”Irshaadul-Mulook (Eng. Trans.) p.46.

Waseelah (Tawassul) in the

The correct means of Tawassul are three.

1). Tawassul by means of Allah’s Beautiful Names.
2). Tawassul by means of righteous deeds of the supplicant.
3). Tawassul by means of a supplication made by a righteous person.

Tawassul (Waseelah) by means of Allah’s Beautiful Names

Allah says: “And to Allah belongs all the beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them.”Soorah al-A’raf (7): 180.

Tawassul by means of Allah’s Beautiful Names is to invoke Allah mentioning His Beautiful Names, like saying, “O Allah, I ask you for You being the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy, the Most Gracious, the All-Knower that You grant me safety and well being…” This form of Tawassul is known from numerous Ahaadeeth.

The Messenger of Allah would say before giving salaam in his prayer: “O Allah! By Your Knowledge of the hidden and Unseen, and Your Power over the creation, grant me life for as long as You Know that life is good for me, and grant me death when death is good for me…”(Saheeh) al-Haakim, an-Nisa’ee and others.

Once, the Messenger of Allah saw a man saying in his Tashahhud: ‘I ask You by virtue of the fact that all praise belongs to You, none has the right to be worshiped but You Alone, having no partner. The Great Bestower of all blessings, O Originator of the Heavens and the Earth. O Possessor of Majesty and Honor, O Ever-Living, O Sustainer and Protector of all that exists. Indeed, I ask You for Paradise, and I seek Your Refuge from the Fire.” So the Prophet said to his companions: “Do you know what he has supplicated with?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, he has supplicated to Allah by His Great Name, if He is called upon by them, He responds and if He is asked by it, He gives.”Abu Dawood, An-Nisa’ee, Musnad Ahmad and others.

Anas (Companion of Prophet Muhammad) reported saying, when a matter grieved the Prophet, he would say: “O Ever-Living, O Sustainer and Protector of all that exists, by Your Mercy I beg of Your aid.”(Hasan) At-Tirmidhee and al-Haakim.

Tawassul (Waseelah) by means of Righteous deeds of the Supplicant

“Those who say: ‘Our Lord! We have Indeed, believed, so forgive us our sins and save us from the punishment of the Fire’”Soorah aali-Imraan (3): 6.

Tawassul by means of righteous deeds is to invoke Allah by mentioning one’s righteous actions, in which he feared Allah and hoped for His Mercy and reward, while giving precedence to His obedience. Like saying,

“Our Lord! We have believed in what You have sent down, and we follow the Messenger; so write us down among those who bear witness (to the truth i.e. none has the right to be worshiped except Allah).”Soorah al-Imraan (3): 53.

“Our Lord! Verily, we have heard the call of one (Muhammad) calling to Faith; ‘Believe in your Lord,’ and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and remit from us our evil deeds, and make us die in the state of righteousness along with Al-Abraar (those who are obedient to Allah and strictly follow His orders).”Soorah al-Imraan (3): 193 and others in the Qur’aan like: Soorah aali-Imraan (3): 6, Soorah al-Muminoon (23): 109, etc.

This form of Tawassul is also mentioned in a number of Ahaadeeth of Allah’s Messenger. From amongst them is the famous story of the companions of the cave. The Messenger of Allah mentioned the story of three men who spent a night in a cave. A boulder rolled down from the mountain and blocked the entrance of the cave. So, they supplicated to Allah by means of their righteous actions. One of them mentioned his obedience towards his elderly parents, the other mentioned an incident when he refrained from zina (adultery) despite having the means to do so, and the third mentioned an incident in which he was truthful and honest in a monetary matter. Allah, the Exalted, upon hearing their supplication moved the rock from the entrance of the cave.Saheeh al-Bukharee vol.3, no.472.

Tawassul (Waseelah) by means of a Supplication made by a Righteous Person

This third type of Tawassul is to ask any righteous living person to make Du’aa (supplication) for oneself.

Anas (Companion of Prophet Muhammad) reported saying: “The people were afflicted with drought in the time of the Prophet, so whilst the Prophet was giving the Khutbah (sermon) on the day of Jumuah, a Bedouin stood and said: “O Messenger of Allah! The livestock are dying and the children are hungry, so supplicate to Allah for us.” So he raised his hands and supplicated and we could not see any trace of clouds. By Him, in Whose Hands is my soul, as soon as he had lowered his hands, clouds like mountains had gathered, and he did not descend from his minbar (pulpit) until I saw rain dripping from his beard...”Saheeh al-Bukharee.

Tawassul by means of a Supplication made by a Righteous Person is also reported from the practice of the Sahabah (Companions of Prophet Muhammad). Anas Ibn Malik (Companion of Prophet Muhammad) narrates from Umar Ibn Khattab (Companion of Prophet Muhammad) that when the people suffered from drought he used to ask al-Abbas Ibn Mutallib (Companion of Prophet Muhammad) to pray for rain for them. He used to say: “O Allah we used to request our Prophet to supplicate to You for rain, and You would bless us with rain. Now, we ask the uncle of our Prophet to supplicate to You, so grant us rain.”Saheeh al-Bukharee.

Also the noble Tabi’e, Sulaym Ibn Aamir al-Khabairee, reported: “The sky withheld any rain, so Muawiyah Ibn Abee Sufyan and the people of Damascus went out to pray for rain. When Muawiyah sat upon the minbar he said: “O Allah! We are today asking the best and most noble amongst us to supplicate to You for us, O Allah, today we put Yazeed Ibn al-Aswad al-Jurashee forward to supplicate to You for us.” Then Yazeed raised his hands and so did the people, and it rained until people could hardly reach their houses.Reported by al-Hafidh Ibn Asaakir in his Tareekh (18/151/1).

Apart from these three correct manners of Tawassul, there is no authentic proof for any other form of Tawassul in the Qur’aan or the Sunnah.

The Hadeeth of Blind ManAdapted from the book, ‘Tawassul – Its Types and Rulings’, by Shaikh Muhammad Nasiruddeen al-Albanee.

Those who consider Tawassul to be permissible by means of the status, honor and right of Allah’s Messenger and righteous people, often quote the Hadeeth of the blind man to support their view.

Narrated Uthmaan Ibn Haneef: ‘A blind man came to the Prophet and said: ‘Supplicate to Allah that He should cure me.” So he said, if you wish I will supplicate for you, and if you wish I will delay that for that is better (and in a narration, ‘and if you wish have patience and that is better for you’). So he said: “Supplicate to Him.” So he (Prophet Muhammad) ordered him (the blind man) to make wudhu well, and to pray two Raka’ahs and to supplicate with this Du’aa: “O Allah I ask You and turn to You by means of Your Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy, O Muhammad I have turned by means of you (i.e. your Du’aa) to my Lord in this need of mine, so that it may be fulfilled for me, O Allah accept his Shafaah on my behalf, and accept my Shafaah for him (to be accepted for me).” So, the man did it and he was cured.’Reported in al-Musnad (4/138), by at-Timidhee (4/281-282), Ibn Majah (1/418) and others.

This Hadeeth does not prove Tawassul by means of the honor or the status, rather it proves the third type of prescribed and lawful Tawassul; i.e. Tawassul by means of Du’aa of a righteous person, because …

• (a) The intent of the blind man, who came to Allah’s Messenger, was Tawassul by means of the Prophet’s Du’aa (third type of Tawassul) and therefore, he said: “Supplicate to Allah that He should cure me.” If the blind man wanted to use the status and honor of Allah’s Messenger as means of nearness to Allah, then he would have had no need to go to the Prophet and ask him to supplicate. He could have stayed back and supplicated directly to Allah by mentioning the name of Allah’s Messenger, his status and position. But he was an Arab, and he completely understood the meaning of the word ‘Tawassul’ in the Arabic language that Tawassul is to ask a pious person to supplicate and it is not merely a word said by a needy person mentioning the name of some person as an intermediary!

(b) The Prophet made Du’aa for the blind man and taught him to say, “…O Allah! Accept his Shafaah on my behalf, and accept my Shafaah for him (to be accepted for me)…” It is argued that the Shafaah mentioned in the supplication refers to intercession.

But, if Shafaah here means intercession then what is the blind man’s Shafaah for Allah’s Messenger? Therefore, Shafaah means Du’aa. So, it means, “…O Allah! Accept his Du’aa on my behalf, and accept my Du’aa for him (to be accepted for me)…”

This is also the meaning of the statement, “O Allah I ask You and turn to You by means of Your Prophet Muhammad…” that is “O Allah I ask You and turn to You by means of (the supplication of) Your Prophet Muhammad…” and does not mean turning to Allah by means of the person of Allah’s Messenger.

Stance of Imam Abu Hanifah on Tawassul

Salafi scholars such as Naasiruddeen Al-Albanee in his book "Tawassul - it's types and it's rulings" “Tawassul - its types and its rulings” Pgs.45-47. state that Imam Abu Hanifa held the opinion that Tawassul as detailed above (through the blessing of a pious person) was impermissible. Ibn Taymiya also was of the opinion that Imam Abu Hanifa was opposed to Tawassul in this form Ibn Taymiyyah reports this in al-Qaa’idatul-Jalijjah..

Traditional muslim scholars however disagree with this viewpoint and state that Imam Abu Hanifa didn't object to the practice of Tawassul but to certain wordings of prayers. [link].

Definition

Tawassul is an Islamic religious practice in which a prayer is offered to Allah through an intermediary.The Intermediary could be a good deed, a person (dead or alive) or an attribute of Allah. A succint definition is "Supplicating Allah by means of an intermediary, whether it be a living person, dead person, a good deed, or a name or Attribute of Allah Most High".

Legal validity

The topic of Tawassul is one that is very strongly argued about today. This section offers only brief overview of the arguments. For details, please refer to the chapter from the Reliance of the Traveller and the "Critical look at the Isnad of the Ahadith concerning the Blind man" articles linked to in the Reference section.

In support

Allah said: “Seek the means of approach (al-Waseelah) to Him (Allah).”Soorah al-Maidah (5): 35.

The most often quoted Hadith which teaches the practice of Tawassul is the [Hadith of the Blind man] . In brief, the hadith deals with a person coming to the prophet Muhammad asking him whether it would be permissible for him to skip congregatory prayers in the mosque since he was blind and couldn't find anyone to take him. The prophet answered in the negative. The man then asked the prophet to pray for his sight to return. Instead of a direct prayer, the prophet asked him to pray with the prophet himself as an intermediary.

Other quoted sources include the hadith of the people who were stuck in a cave and who prayed for God to save them using their own good deeds as intermediaries.

Against

Critics base their allegations upon the claim that many of the Ahadith regarding the usage of Tawassul (such as the hadith of the Blind man mentioned above) are either misunderstood or that they are unreliable and possess a weak chain of narrators. They also quote a number of Qur'anic verses that can be interpreted to contradict the practice of Tawassul, such as the one found in Surah Yunus:

"And they serve besides Allah that which can neither harm them nor profit them and they say, These are our intercessors with Allah. Say, Would you inform Allah of what He knows not in the heavens and the earth? Glory be to Him, and supremely exalted is He above what they set up! (with Him)." [Yunus:18]

Other verses which are often quoted as proofs against Tawassul are Surah Al-Araf:194 and Surah Al-Isra:157.

Muslim viewpoints

In contemporary times, Tawassul is practiced by traditional Sunni muslims and Shia muslims. Followers of the Salafi movement consider the practice to be equivalent to polytheism.

Sunni view

Tawassul has been endorsed and practised by traditional muslims since the time of the prophet himself. All the founders of the major Sunni Madhabs practised it. Many classic Islamic religious poems like the Qasida Burda are examples of this form of prayer.

The first scholar to deny the validity of Tawassul was Ibn Taymiya. His argument revolved around the idea that the practice was valid only during the lifetime of the prophet Muhammad and that after his death, it was impermissible and a Bidah or reprehensible innovation. It should be understood that he did not consider it a form of Shirk. His teachings were revivified by the founder of the Wahabi movement Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab who strengthened the idea to say that it was not only a Bidah but that those who practiced it were guilty of polytheism and were apostates.

Shi'a view

The Shia muslims practice tawassul often through the prophet's son in law Ali.

References

Prose contains specific citations in source text which may be viewed in edit mode.

External links

• Supporting Tawassul
• *[Relevant chapter of the Reliance of the traveller]
• *[Many articles on positions of classical scholars on Tawassul]
• *[Islamic Concept of Intermediation by Dr. Tahir al-Qadri]
• Against Tawassul
• *[Tawassul:Why it is forbidden]
• *[A Critical look at the Isnad of the Ahadith concerning the 'Blind Man' and others.]

 

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